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US President Donald Trump has said that Chinese President Xi Jinping “understands the consequences” if China attempts to invade Taiwan, though he declined to say whether Washington would defend the island. The comments came in an interview with CBS News broadcast on Sunday. Asked on CBS’s 60 Minutes if he would send US forces to respond should China take military action against Taiwan, Trump replied, “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that.” Pressed to elaborate, the US President refused to reveal details, saying, “I can’t give away my secrets. The other side knows.” Trump also said that Taiwan “never even came up as a subject” when he met Xi in South Korea on Thursday. The two leaders held their first face-to-face talks in six years on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Gyeongju. According to Trump, Xi and his inner circle have “openly said” that they “would never do anything while President Trump is president, because they know the consequences.” China claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to take control. The United States officially recognises only Beijing under the One China policy, but continues to supply defensive weapons to Taipei. At their meeting, Trump and Xi focused mainly on trade, agreeing to reduce tensions that have unsettled global markets. Washington is expected to roll back some tariffs, while Beijing promised to maintain steady supplies of rare earth materials critical to technology and defence industries. Calling the talks a “great success,” Trump praised Xi as a “tremendous leader of a very powerful country” and said he planned to visit China in April. Xi, for his part, said that both nations should work together to strengthen cooperation. “China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” he said. (With inputs from AFP)
